Vinyl fabric materials are in wide use for information panels and commercial signs. Such material comprises essentially a woven fabric formed of non-elastic polyester fibre, which is dipped in liquid vinyl. The fabric has excellent qualities for outdoor use, and is highly resistant to damage by extremes of weather temperature, water, ice, snow, etc. and is also resistant to wind damage. When made, it is usually white in colour. It can readily be coloured with vinyl paints, and lettering can be applied.
It is however, most usually the case that particularly for a business sign, some form of customized art work will be required. Such art work may involve custom hand lettering of a business name, or a business logo, or a particular colouring or pattern of colours.
The creation of graphics involves numerous steps. In the first place, an artist must actually create the art work and the lettering. This is usually created on a paper or other fillament as a background. This art work is then usually photographed, or transferred in some other way to a colour medium. Such medium may be a printing plate, or a silk screen, or any other medium whereby the artist's original art work can be transferred.
From such printing medium for example, a silk screen, the graphics are then transferred to a carrier or transfer sheet, in a particular colour or combination of colours. Silk screening in particular may involve screening of one colour or up to four colours to provide a complete range of colours.
Where the graphics are too large or the volume is not sufficient for silk screeing, then pre-coated transfer sheets are used. These transfer sheets are pre-coated with different coloured paints. The graphics can simply be cut out, letter by letter if needed, to create transfer panels.
Typically, the base material is a paper or similar material to which a heat sensitive release material had been applied.
In the past, it has been attempted to apply the graphics on such a transfer panel directly onto the vinyl fabric material. The material was placed in a press, and heat and pressure was applied. The release material was softened and the graphics were also rendered semi-liquid. The graphics penetrated the vinyl sheet. The paper barrier was then peeled off. This procedure has not proved entirely satisfactory however. The bond between the transfer panel and the vinyl fabric was not always completely successful.
In all cases, however, it meant that the entire panel of vinyl fabric had to be placed in a large press. This involved considerable capital cost.
This is clearly undesirable. It is desirable that the graphics can be transferred onto the vinyl fabric in a cold process without heat and pressure.
Numerous attempts have been made to overcome this problem and to obtain a better cold bond between the graphics and the vinyl fabric.